When the 2012 season ends, the Dolphins will have one less player entering free agency than expected.

On Saturday, according to the Palm Beach Post’s Ben Volin, the team signed one of its steadiest performers, punter Brandon Fields, to a four-year extension. Fields, a seventh-round pick in 2007 , posted a franchise-record 48.8-yard average last season (third-best in the NFL behind San Francisco’s Andy Lee and Oakland’s Shane Lechler.)

League sources told Volin that Fields’ new deal, which runs through the 2016 season, will be worth $13.3 million ($3.3 million guaranteed), making him the fifth-highest paid punter in the NFL.

Fields is entering sixth season with the Dolphins–only long snapper John Denney has a longer tenure with the franchise.

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